Proximity
by ChipmunkFanatic
Summary: Raikim. Stranded in an abandoned log cabin during snowstorm, the Dragons of Fire and Wind have a bit of a heart to heart.


"Ohh, no. Not a chance. _No way_ am I— HEY!"

Kimiko's hands flew to cover her eyes as a blush overtook her.

Raimundo chuckled as he stripped his outer robes and sash and let them drop to a pile on the ground. "What?" he asked, grin knowingly teasing. "New robes, remember? Undershirt. And don't worry, pants stay on."

Kimiko cautiously lowered her hands, glaring despite the redness of her cheeks. "Regardless!" she huffed. "Shouldn't you be keeping as many layers as possible? It's _freezing_." And, to the Dragon of Fire's credit, it _was_. The tiny little cabin in which they had sought shelter had no signs of a thermostat or any way to control the heat other than a miniscule fireplace that looked rather pitiful even in the small space. The only other thing that even indicated any previous use was the coatrack by the door, a blackened kettle on the built in counter, and, well, the bed.

…Which the Dragon of the Wind was currently snuggling into quite happily. "S'pretty warm under here though," he said, pulling the blanket up to his chin and letting his eyes slip closed.

Kimiko's hands balled reflexively and would have busted into flame to set fire to her sleepy new roommate's hair, had it not been so darn _cold_. She opted instead for shoving Raimundo's shoulder roughly. "What do you think you're doing?!"

Making an irritated noise at the disturbance, but otherwise not moving, Raimundo replied, "Going to sleep." He popped an eye open and arched a brow at her disapproving look. "Or _trying_ to, anyway. What's wrong?"

Kimiko wasn't even sure she could conjure the words to explain everything at the moment, but she tried. "Well for one, I am _not_ sleeping on the _floor,_ Rai!"

Raimundo stared at her for a moment.

"Wasn't telling you to…" He looked over his shoulder and scooted farther to the edge of the mattress. "There's plenty of room."

She punched his shoulder again, just for good measure. "Have you never seen a rom com?" She stomped a foot and crossed her arms. Rai fought a laugh. "Sure, it _starts_ with us both on our own sides, but at some point while we sleep, we're inevitably going to end up all _snuggled_ up to each other! It's _tacky _and _cliché_ and I will have no part of it!"

The young Brazilian did chuckle this time. "Well I guess it's a good thing this isn't a movie then." He pushed back down under the covers, settling and allowing his eyes to close once more. As amusing as the situation was, the fatigue of the day really was beginning to get to him. After searching in the snow for well over three hours, a sudden storm had hit and forced them to seek out shelter. Clay, Omi, and Dojo had definitely gotten the break with their trip to Florida, America for their Wu and were probably back at the temple by now. It wasn't really worth complaining about, however. He'd decided that he and Kimiko could handle the simultaneously activated Wu in Norway with Dojo dropping them off on the way. They'd even figured to bring the Longi Kite so that Kimiko could fly with him back home once the Wu was obtained so Dojo didn't need to go back for them.

The best laid plans…

Kimiko had obviously been stewing in her own thoughts because as soon as he'd started to doze off, she shook him awake again. "Raimundo, I am not sleeping in the same bed as you," she said, matter of fact, accenting it with hands on her hips.

Raimundo groaned and rolled away from her. "Then sleep on the floor."

"I already told you, I'm not—"

"Why is it such a big deal anyway?" Rai forced himself up, propping his head on a hand, eyes still half lidded with exhaustion. So close yet so far. "I mean, we've slept together before..."

"Yeah, with Omi and Clay and Dojo!" she shot back. "It isn't—" She paused, letting her arms drop to her sides as her eyes fell away from his face. "This just isn't the _same_."

He blinked at her, brow furrowing. "Jeez Kim, what do you think I'm going to _do_?"

Kimiko looked up abruptly, throwing her hands out in what looked like an attempt to physically stop that train of thought in its tracks. "I didn't mean! I wasn't trying to imply! I don't think you'd try—I don't think you'd _ever_ try _anything_ like—" Her face had gone a red to match her robes and she shook her head furiously. "It isn't that!"

Raimundo recognized the turn in the conversation and pushed himself into a full sitting position, watching her carefully.

She sighed deeply. "I just. I like our friendship, Rai." She forced herself to meet his eyes. "Like, really _really_ like our friendship," she said, then, for clarity, "and I don't want it to change."

The Dragon of the Wind tensed even further, frowning. "Well, I'm still not sleeping on the floor."

Kimiko stared at him, dumbfounded for a full 5 seconds before she demanded, "_What?_"

Raimundo finally cracked a joking grin. "Well, I appreciate sleep more, anyway. It only seems fair." He rolled over again, his back now turned to her. "Besides, don't you have some sort of 'internal fire' or something? You _are_ the Dragon of _Fire_, right?"

Kim's left eye twitched. "It doesn't work that way!"

"Well, how am I supposed to know? It isn't like I can have 'internal wind' in me; I'm pretty sure everyone has that."

"Not if you're dead, you won't!"

She moved to hit him again, but this time he managed to maneuver in time to catch it. She glared at him as he smiled back at her. "For real though, Kim," he said, and she tensed in a new way. "I like our friendship, too, and I don't think spending one night alone together is going to be enough to change it."

He released her hand, settling down into the blankets for, hopefully, the last time. "Now _please_ go to sleep?"

Kimiko took a deep breath, watching him hesitantly for a moment. Then she shook her head and made her way to the other side of the bed and slipped beneath the covers. It _was_ warm.

"And hey." Even whispering, Rai's voice rang out in the sudden quiet of the cabin, "_I_ won't do anything, but if _you_ get cold during the night and wanna—"

"Good_night_ Raimundo."

"Heh, night Kimiko."


End file.
